Time-signal for railways



A. P. BURROUGES. Time Signal forA Railways.

Patented Aug.l 3,1880..

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ATTORNEYS.

N. PETERS. PHOTO-LITHOGRAPNER. WASHINGYQN. D c.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.,

ALMA P. BURROUGHS, OF SENECA FALLS. NEV YORK.

TIME-SIGNAL FOR RAILWAYS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 230,738, dated August 3, 1880.

Application filed January 2G, 1880. v

Toall whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ALMA P. BUERoUGHs, of Seneca Falls, in the county otSeneca and State of New York, have inventeda new and Improved Time-Signal for Railways, of which the following is a specification.

Figure l is a rear elevation of the device, showing the actuating part thereof. Fig. 2 is a sectional side elevation on line y y, Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a vertical sectional elevation on line z z, Fig. 1. Fig. 4 is a front elevation ot' the device.

Similar letters of reference indica-te corresponding parts.

The object of this invention is to provide a clock device to be used on railroads to be operated by passing trains, whereby the time elapsing between the passing' of one train and its neXt succeeding one will be correctly indicated to the engineer of the said succeeding train.

The invention consists of an attachment of combined wheels, levers, weights, &c., to an ordinary clock, whereby the clock-hands are thrown out of gear and made to return to marl; twelve oclocl; by the passing of trains over a certain point.l when 'the said hands will return in gear and continue to mark the time in the usual manner until another train passes to ungear and throw them back to twelve oclock again.

In the drawings, A represents the clock-face with minute-hand a and hour-hand I). On the reverse vare shown' the, minute-hand spindle WAV B, carrying its na dt-he hour-hand spindle D, carrying its and secured on the said spindles B D, respectively, are t-he stops c c. With one end made fast to the spindie Band the other end made fast to the spindle D is the cord F, in whose bight is suspended from the sheave d the weight Gr, so that the said 'weight may move readily on the said cord F. y

H is a =frame pivoted on the spindle j' of the main driving-wheel of the clock, which driving-wheell is shown in dotted lines inFig. l. Within this frame H, which is essentially alever, the counter-wheel'K and pinion L are iiXed on the spindle M, and said wheel K and pinion L are made, respectively, to engage with the pinion E and wheely G when the frame H is held down by the spring g.

N represents a rail of the railroad-track, an d O a lever fixed against and parallel with said rail N, andhavingits upper edge a little higher than the tread ot' said rail. In the face of this lever O, near its ends, are formed the vertical slots It, through which pass the pins that hold it against the rail N, and these slots h permit the up-and-down movement ofthe said lever O asatrain passes over it. -Beneath the said lever O, and support-ingit, are the springs 7c, and attached to about its center and extending at right angles toward the clock is the eccentriclever F, whose extreme end is connected by the rod m with the end a of the frame H in such a manner that a passing train pressing upon the lever O causes, by means of the lever P and rod m, the end a ot' the frame H to be depressed, so as to lift and disen gage the wheel and pinion K L from the opposite wheel and pinion G E, and thereby permit the weight Gr to operate in reversing the movement of the said wheel and pinion C E and turn the spindles B D, so that the hands a b shall be carried backward to marlr the hour of twelve.

In order to arrest the backward movement of the said hands a b at the point of twelve on the face of the clock, the cord F and stops c c are relatively arranged in such a manner that the said stops c c engage with and check the unwinding of the said cord F on the instant that the said hands a b return to the point twelve aforesaid. As soon as the lever 0 is relieved of the pressure of the passing train the said ilever O is restored to its primary position by the action ot' the springs 7c, and consequently the frame H resumes its original posit-ion with the wheel and pinion K L in gear with the wheel and pinionl C E, and the regular movement of the clock goes on as before, which movement winds the cord F around the spindles B D, and thereby draws up the weight G, so that by its gravitythe said weight Gr shall again reverse the motion of the hands a b when an oth er passing train puts the herein-described mechanism in operation. rlhus it will be seen that the hands of the clock or indicator will move normally only between the passing' of trains, at each interruption returning to the point ot' twelve, so that any onel on a passing train can tell at a glance by how long a time the next train ahead has preceded him. By

this means the person in charge of a train can IOO The combination, with a clock mechanism, substantially as described, of the cord F, havin g a movable Weight thereon, the spring-held lever-frame H, havin g end a, the rod m, the eccentric-lever P, and the slotted spring-held track-lever O, as and for the purpose specified.

ALMA P. BURROUGHS.

Witnesses W. P: SNELL, D. XV. WALLER. 

